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From A(simov) to Z(eraus)

I was checking out my google search results and found this post from my old blogger account! Not too horror related, but I think you all might find it interesting. If you are one of the five people that visited my old blog and read it earlier this year I apologize:)

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The world of publishing has changed drastically in the last century. The printed word is becoming more of a thing of the past as e-books and audio recordings become more of an everyday alternative. As a result the marketing procedures and promotional mediums have changed just as dramatically. The science fiction genre is no exception as the technologies prophesized in the infancy of science fiction become a reality. Writers must take the current publishing environment into consideration when constructing a marketing plan for their works.

Throughout the 1940’s science fiction legend, Issac Asimov published his short stories in pulp serials like Astounding Science Fiction. Some of his most popular works were the stories that would later be collected to become the novel I, Robot. The stories were compiled and published in the early 1950’s and were advertised in the same science fiction magazines in which the short stories originally appeared (randomhouse.com). According to the author, the science fiction community was tight knit and the returns expected by these authors were less than lucrative until the 1970’s. This can be attributed to the limited print run of the magazines and their eventual demise due to advances in technology, specifically the television in the 1960’s (wiredforbooks.org). Despite the rough start science fiction has grown to be one of the most popular genres in modern literature; people like Issac Asimov and Robert A. Heinline have become renowned for their innovation and unique visions of the future.

In 2006 Daniel Suarez, a systems analyst in the Los Angeles area had realized much of the technological visions of early science fiction and was inspired to present the current reach of existing technologies in his novel, Daemon. Initially the novel was marketed under the pen name Leinad Zeraus due to the fact that the author was concerned about how his existing clients would react to the content of Daemon. Suarez was unable to find a publisher for his work so he turned to self-publishing and his vast knowledge of the internet (bookbanter.net). His marketing approach was unique to say the least, Suarez promoted the book to technology websites and into the blogosphere. As a result his debut novel received endorsements from Craig’s List founder Craig Newmark, Google’s Rick Klau and the white house cyber security chief Billy O’Brien. After receiving rave reviews on the limitedly distributed novel Suarez was given a two book contract with a major publishing house and has had the film rights optioned by Paramount studios (Memmott).

The change in the industry as a whole can be seen in the processes that authors must take to make themselves and their works marketable. Many of the most common approaches to modern marketing were not available to the pioneers of the industry and most of the original advertising and promotion mediums were made obsolete by the advent of the internet. Technology seems to have complicated the publishing process, but these complications are a small price to pay for the increased content available to consumers. However, regardless of time period quality works always seem to rise to the top, becoming part of our beloved lexicon.

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